Happy New Year's Eve!

Hey. it's snowing again
in the merry Maritimes—
third storm since Thursday

The pic above isn't this morning
but one from earlier this month
still, let it snow, let it snow

I've been working in the Art Bank
over three calendar months already
Today is the last day this year

I'm working with three film projects
Published in three anthologies this autumn
Have at least three books in the works

Have three cold Faxe beer in fridge
Have a friend's birthday party
this snowy New Year's Eve(ning)

shirt: Newfoundland & Labrador: A World of Difference
loc: preartbankworkday
temp: - 6 C
sound: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers "Damn the Torpedos"

Found photo du jour

Found 27 Dec, about 1:30 pm, on York Street, Fredericton, NB, out front of McAdam's Select Funeral Home.

Looks like it was taken in one of the near-the-wall aisles @ the W.W. Boyce Farmers Market, George Street, Fredericton.

T-shirt: Smooth Rock Falls • Canada
loc: preNor'easter
temp: -1° C
sound: Raising Sand by Robert Plant | Alison Krauss

New book: Imagination in Action

In the last mail I collected at Box 596 [no, I don't live there!] before Christmas was a thick bubble envelope from Carol Malyon. Finally opened it today, my first real day back in town.

Contained two copies of the Imagination in Action anthology edited by Carol Malyon and published by The Mercury Press in Toronto. [ISBN 978-1-55128-132-2, 220 pp, $19.95] The book was launched 13 Nov, in Toronto at a fall line launch by The Mercury Press.

The next event planned for this book will happen 7:30 pm, Wednesday, 30 Jan 2008 at the Cameron House (back room), 408 Queen St West, Toronto ON. [Wish I could be there but that's so not likely on my cash flow theses days.] Might be visuals projected or selected readings . . .? There will be a party with music and dancing . . .

"Folks, step this way. Yes, folks, see Canadian artists and writers dancing. Be amazed and astounded by this unlikely collection of human being all in one room. Buy a copy of the book and gain admittance. Step this way: Right. Right. Left. Right. Hop. Right. Twirl. (repreat). That's right, folks, don't be shy."

I'm one of 44 contributors—painters, sculptors, musicians, poets, novelists, teachers, actors . . . all artists of some stripe—who wrote down some of their thoughts on "creativity" . . . how we create art, how we choose its medium, or how we get chosen, what we do, how we live art.

T-shirt: Smooth Rock Falls • Canada
loc: preNor'easter
temp: -2° C
sound: Raising Sand by Robert Plant | Alison Krauss

Holidays in a [new] box

Back from my parents' new-to-them house in West Chezzetcook, Nova Scotia. The village one of the old Acadien communities on the Eastern Shore. The Catholic church built with clay bricks made there in the community when the several brickworks still operated. There's still a Brick Point jutting out into the inlet.

When the orginal house was build is a good question. Certainly, it was in the time of hand-hewn beams and square nails obvious when in the basement. One this that is known is that the people living there were short. Far shorter than me or my parents. the upstairs room have cut-short doors and a framed shorter than necessary [but fixable, replacable]. It's worse than a case of possibly bumping my head if I didn't duck.

More recently, 29 July 1977 Bonita and Damnny tied the knot. One of them possibly a former resident in the house. Bonita might have been one of the daughters of the long-time resident family. Were are they now? Did they have kids (and grandkids)? Are they still married?

Totally unlelated to the house is this photo of a business' signs on Main Street, in Westphal, near the original Chris Brothers store and smokehouse. It's not a case of letters having fallen off the signand not being replaced. There's no spaces left for them.

T: Surf Joe Boards
loc: Loganberry Lane
temp: -2 C
sound: The Cars Greatest Hits

Fresh hot book!!! S., a novel in [xxx] dreams by Lee D. Thompson

S., a novel in [xxx] dreams
by Lee D. Thompson

79 pp, 6x9, perfect bound tpb
December 2007
ISBN 978-1-55391-064-0
$19

Lee D. Thompson sprinkles magic realism . . .
—Descant

[R]eminiscent of Borges, of Garcia Marquez, and of Hitchcock . . . beautifully disconcerting . . .
—Atlantic Books Today

Lee D. Thompson writes fiction that has appeared in literary journals such as The New Quarterly, The Dalhousie Review, Lichen, and The New Orphic Review, as well as in anthologies such as Victory Meat: New Fiction from Atlantic Canada and The Vagrant Revue of New Fiction. He has received grants from ArtsNB and the Canada Council for the Arts. He dreams all of the time. Sometimes he makes experimental music in his apartment, in Moncton, New Brunswick, where he edits the fiction journal Galleon, when he’s not too busy dreaming. S., a novel in [xxx] dreams is his first book.

Book launch: 10 Jan 2008, Thursday, 8 pm @ Attic Owl Books, 115 Queen St, Moncton, NB. Tel 506 855.4913.

Pssssst!!! Just Released!!! Special
$20 (incl. GST & shipping)
prepaid, directly from:

Broken Jaw Press Inc.
Box 596 Stn A
Fredericton NB E3B 5A6
Canada

---

T-shirt: Raise a Reader
loc: Brokenreceiving
temp: -10 C
sound: Great Songs of Indifference: The Best of Bob Geldof & the Boomtown Rats

APB, 18 Dec 2007

Ashes, Paper & Beans started with "The Natural State of Man" poem by Fortner Anderson.

Special guest tonight: Richard Lemm from Charlottetown, PEI.
[I've known him as a poet for something over a score of years; since 1980ish through Leslie Choyce of Pottersfield Press.] In the first half of the show, we had a lively discussion on the arts; the Banff Centre; and on the writing and publishing community of Prince Edward Island.

In the second half, we promoted his new collection of short fiction, Shape of Things to Come(Charlottetown: Acorn Press) and he read excerpts from two short stories in the collection. Richard will also be promoting the book at 7 pm, Thursday, 20 Dec @ Westminster Books on King St, Fredericton.

Show ended with the "Emergency" poem by Hugh Hazelton followed by a recorded PSA for "Unsilent Night" happening at 7 PM, Friday.

[Last live show by me this year. I'll be back live on New Year's Day 2008.]

shirts: RCMP T-shirt; black Arrow dress shirt
loc: innforthenight
temp: -14 C
sound: NCIS

Unsilent Night, Fredericton

Motion Ensemble and Gallery Connexion are presenting a short FREE show Friday, Dec 21st at 7 pm with works by Michael Miller, Peter Sculthorpe and W.L. Altman followed by the cult mass-participation piece Unsilent Night by Phil Kline.

A beautiful, mobile piece of ambient public art, Unsilent Night can be compared to a holiday caroling party—except that participants don't sing. Instead, each carries an ordinary boom box playing a separate cassette or CD that becomes part of the piece.

In effect, the individual participants become single elements in a huge, moving sound system. Performed within the confines of city streets, Unsilent Night reverberates off the cars and buildings, resulting in a magnificent, drifting cloud of shimmering, echoing sound. The 43-minute piece includes sounds of chiming bells, choral voices and various electronic effects. (Kline cites Brian Eno and Charles Ives among his influences.) Kline has performed Unsilent Night in New York City every year since 1992. In San Francisco in 2006, some 400 people took part.

If you can't bring a portable music player, come along anyway and enjoy yourself!

CDs and cassettes will be provided; if you want to download an MP3 for free, go here: www.unsilentnight.com/download/

Let's see how many folks we can get in Fredericton!
Don't forget your batteries!
Kids are welcome!
Make sure to dress warmly!

The event will be held rain or shine 7 pm at Gallery Connexion, 453 Queen St–Justice Building Annex. Tel 454.1433.

For more information on Unsilent Night, see these fine sites:
www.myspace.com/unsilentnight
www.motionensemble.com
www.galleryconnexion.ca

T: CHSR Highland Radio 2002
loc: postwerkhétfõ
temp: -8, wind chill of 16
sound: Patti Smith Horses

joeblades.com

thought about it for years
but never acted upon it
even talked about it
and was urged by others
but i'm not on to fall
easily under peer pressure
but the desire was there
to separate self from broken
and that began years ago
before its incorporation
and now the web has hived
and I'm wandering a little
further afield solo alone
without "miss you" thoughts
and i've build nothing
fancy dancer or flashy
just a basic inukshuk
to mark the people's passage
from tangible through ether
to wherever I end up
and most all that i do
en route to that point

T: NSCAD, "I will not make boring art"—John Baldessari
loc: postbikewalkto334storage
temp: -5 C, chill like -12 C
sound: Killing Joke Pandemonium

Ashes, Paper & Beans, 11dec2007

Tonight's Ashes, Paper & Beans: Fredericton's Writing & Art Show episode on CHSR 97.9 FM featured a live-from-the-Fishbowl interview with performing songwriter Eric Gale of Fredericton—a BlackTop MotorCycle Gang member—live with guitar! Show started with the CD version of the song "Maybe Tomorrow". The interview included live renditions of "Home", "Close-up (The Tattoo Song)", "Little Man", "My Heartache, My Highway", a cover of "Oops! . . . I Did it Again", and "Sign". Show ended with Eric's CD version of "Close-up (The Tattoo Song)" followed by Drek Daa's poem "In In-Between".

T-shirt: International Terrorist Bush
loc: postwerkwork
temp: -6, light snow
sound: NCIS

Snowbots Last Night

T'was the night before another Friday
and all along George Street, Fredericton,
residents were pulled from their slumber
and some, myself included, lept from beds
to see the noise and lights in the night

A pack of yellow snowbots aflashing
and peebing as they bullied snowbanks
away from sidewalks and coffer-loving
parking meters stiffly standing guard
onto the road in front of the big grader

Later to arrive on the scene, the hungry,
rotating maw of a giant snowblower
and a waitstaff line of empty trucks
long as the street getting filled
and rushing the snow away from here

Fourth night in a row that I was disturbed from my sleep. Every night since diring the Monday-Tuesday snowstorm. Awoke at 2:40 AM this morning, bit it was after 4:30 before they were done. Wednesday night they were on York, @ the front of the building, capturing snowbanks there. Tuesday night they were pushing those same snowbanks back from the street and clearing sidewalks not done during Monday night or Tuesday day. I've no snap today. Woke feeling drugged like après surgery . . . but it's nothing serious—this night surgery—having my snowbanks removed. Yesterday morning was far more productive. Today I changed an image drum and am now told my toner is empty . . .

T-shirt: Mojo Club, Senta
loc: postsnowbots
temp: -12 C
sound: Canciones y Legendas: Songs and Legends for Bassoon and Guitar by Yvonne Kershaw, bassoon, and Steven Peacock, classical guitar

too . . . whatever!

Too busy, too tired, très occupié, too . . . whatever!

I've not been blogging near of late as I was earlier this year. Looks a little sad to mostly see reports on the weekly episodes of Ashes, Paper & Beans—not that I'm disapointed the the radio show. Far from it. I've been very, very happy with the quantity and quality of interview guests that I've had this autumn.

I've been busy with the ongoing Film & Television Certificate workshop series; with the Art Bank day job; with my own book projects (solo and anthologies) in the works; with a ficton mess I'm writing and hopefully wrangling them into linked short stories or possibly a novel. Ambitious, but eventually doable. Am also busy working to get a Broken Jaw Press book through the printing process before the holidays settle upon us like the snowstorm of early this week; with League tasks; with BlackTop MotorCycle Gang readings activities; with my various other arts interests and activities.

T-shirt: Guinness (under black Arrow dress shirt)
loc: postDJPurdy's
temp: -11 C
sound: Brian Eno Ambient 1: Music for Airports

APB, 4dec2007

Majority of tonight's Ashes, Paper & Beans: Fredericton's Writing & Art Show was part one of my recording of a roundtable on Endangered Languages at the 2007 Side by Side Festival of Literary Translation / Côte à Côte festival de traduction littéraire with festival coordinator Jo-Anne Elder, emcee Roger Moore and panelists Nela Rio, Mark Abley, Elizabet Rafos and Carlos Gomes. Also on the show was "Big Sky Alberta" by Sheri-D Wilson and Russell Broom, and "Exploding Head Man" by Ian Ferrier.

T: Quod nos non necate, etam maxime laedit
loc: humpdayweekend
temp: -6 C
sound: Counting Crows "Recovering the Satellites"

a haiku

three crabapple trees
two cedars against brick wall
enrobed in new snow

       

day without ART